Remember when “Zangetsu” said, when Ichigo grieves it will rain ever so easily in his inner world? In this episode, when Ichigo got told who he really was, it started pouring heavy rain when he started talking to him. And when “Zangetsu” told him he really wasn’t Zangetsu, Ichigo’s whole world literally collapses. I can’t imagine a better plot twist this series had that had so much foreshadowing built up to it. This episode was the perfect way to end this Cour.

Man, this is, like, the craziest 24 hours of Ichigo’s life, at least in terms of his mental state. Dude got told the only guy who can reforge his sword that he won’t do that, got kicked out of the Soul Society, learned the truth about his mom, finally thinks he knows everything, and THEN learns that Zangetsu isn’t Zangetsu. That rain must have been switching off and on like a light switch in his head.

Oh yeah, a really fun little thing is the chapter where Ichigo first meets “Zangetsu” is named “The Blade and Me”, but now that Ichigo knows the truth about himself and Zanpakutos as a whole, the title is now “The Blade Is Me”. Just fun symmetry.

Ichigo: “Where is old man Zangetsu?!” White Ichigo: “I already told you. I AM ZANGETSU!”

Still remember when Ichigo tried to force training the final getsuga technique from Zangetsu ? Zangetsu appeared as young , teenage or 20-ish of yhwach , named as tensa zangetsu . He said at that time " the fate that you want is not what i want " . Meaning that he as a Quincy , didn't care at all about soul reaper , aizen thing. Of course , at that time, we didn't knew . And then he pulled out Hollow white from Ichigo's body because it's the "core of despair". Meaning that Ichigo at that bcame too afraid of his hollow /soul reaper power, thus subconsciously sealed the hollow inside and his progress regressive just like what Aizen said "you could be more than that" as a natural hybrid soul reaper/hollow/quincy .

"I told you Ichigo and the thing that you want to protect isn't the thing that I want to protect...."

The seeds of Shiro being the True Zangetsu have been laid from the very beginning! Love the callback. Ichigo's emotions were put through the ringer this episode! His inner world went from raining to drowning in moments. Remember, the weather is controlled by Ichigo's emotions. :D

The hollow being his zanpakuto has always been foreshadowed even back to the original series. For example, whenever Ichigo is in bankai mode, his hollow always interferes. And he kept hearing the hollow voice in his mind, because essentially that is how shinigami communicate with their zanpakuto.

Ichigo: where is zangetsu White Ichigo: I am zangetsu

Important Removed Content: -Mera Hiuchigashima explaining the timing restrictions of the Chōkaimon to Ichigo Kurosaki and revealing that Ōetsu Nimaiya planned to bring him back from the start since the situation would change either overnight or not at all, prompting Nimaiya to announce that they can proceed now. -The flashback to Zangetsu stopping Ichigo's wound from bleeding with Blut Vene during his battle against Kenpachi Zaraki. === Chōkaimon (超界門, World-Transcending Gate; Viz "Super Worldy Gate"): A gate that a Royal Guard can open, sending someone directly to the human world from the Soul King Palace. The gate can also be opened to send this person back, but to do so requires syncing the arrival and departure times. === Trivia: -According to Q&A #69 by Tite Kubo on his fansite "Klub Outside", Hitsugaya had already achieved Bankai by the time he entered the Gotei 13. -According to Q&A #120 by Tite Kubo on his fansite "Klub Outside", both Hitsugaya and Rangiku had recognized Isshin Kurosaki as their former captain while in the human world, but chose not to confront him. -According to Q&A #171 by Tite Kubo on his fansite "Klub Outside", older Zanpakutō (for example, Katen Kyōkotsu) more often tend to have longer release commands than younger Zanpakutō (for example, Sode no Shirayuki). -According to Q&A #238 by Tite Kubo on his fansite "Klub Outside", if a Zanpakutō is inherited from a deceased Shinigami (such as the Zanpakutō of Kaname Tōsen and Kenpachi Zaraki), its name and powers will either be overwritten, or it will become an amalgamation of the two Shinigami's natural Zanpakutō. -According to Q&A #350 by Tite Kubo on his fansite "Klub Outside", while Shinigami that have achieved Bankai can activate their Shikai without saying their Zanpakutō name, it is still possible for non-Bankai users to activate their Shikai without saying the release command if they are skilled enough to do so, and even then it might mean the Shikai will not be at full power. -According to Q&A #402 by Tite Kubo on his fansite "Klub Outside", while no two Shinigami can have a Zanpakutō with the same name in any given era, it is possible for Zanpakutō to share a name with another Zanpakutō from the distant past. -According to Q&A #472 by Tite Kubo on his fansite "Klub Outside", Zanpakutō can share similarities between Shinigami with a blood connection, as evidenced with Zangetsu and Engetsu having similar names and sharing the Getsuga Tenshō ability. -According to Q&A #488 by Tite Kubo on his fansite "Klub Outside", Nimaiya's Zanpakutō Sense means that he knows exactly which Asauchi are in possession of which owner and what Zanpakutō they became. -According to Q&A #495 by Tite Kubo on his fansite "Klub Outside", when a Shinigami retires from the Gotei 13 for any reason, their Zanpakutō is stored for a certain time until it is returned to Ōetsu Nimaiya and reforged into a new Asauchi. -According to Q&A #556 by Tite Kubo on his fansite "Klub Outside", an Asauchi's blade does not change length during its existence, however a Shikai form can change over time. -According to Q&A #557 by Tite Kubo on his fansite "Klub Outside", Sajin's last name, Komamura, was not the name he was born with, but rather a name Yamamoto granted Sajin once he became a member of the Gotei 13. -According to Q&A #586 by Tite Kubo on his fansite "Klub Outside", there can only be a maximum of 5 Royal Guard members at any given time.

there is a rumor about old man zangetsu. when ichigo get his own soul reaper powers first time at urahara's basement and when he meet representation of ywach first time, ywach says "my name is ywach" but his name didn't reach ichigo at that time for an obvious reason. rumor says, one of the squad zero member prevent that name to reach ichigo.

Ichigo FINALLY can stop fighting against himself. If what we saw of his shinigami powers is what his quincy powers couldn't suppress, and now they are working together, thats crazy.

Shirosaki did say "thats not zangetsu. I told you that I'm zangetsu!"

Fun Fact: Goroawase (Phonetic Matching) is a play on words used in Japan where they use numbers to replace letters. Ichigo can be 15 (Ichi = 1, Go = 5). The way the "The Blade Is Me" title card at the end of episode is shown makes "Is" look like "15" and it's such a neat detail, the blade really is him. 🙂

Keep 'em coming!

These uploads are toying with my emotions when hoping for the OC to return

I literally cant😂😂 not "ewok" "yu-ha-ba-ha". Also that's just Go-Ichi's new shikai. That's not the bankai😉

The ironic in this scene is back in the day people treat oldman zangetsu as ichigo ally and branded "white" as a dark force trying to takeover ichigo's body, when in reality "white" is ichigo's true essence trying to tell ichigo that he need to accept his own self. My boy "white" pretending to be a villain the entire time.☝